41 Facts About Hakuin Ekaku

Hakuin Ekaku was one of the most influential figures in Japanese Zen Buddhism.

Hakuin Ekaku is regarded as the reviver of the Rinzai school from a moribund period of stagnation, focusing on rigorous training methods integrating meditation and koan practice.

Hakuin Ekaku's mother was a devout Nichiren Buddhist, and it is likely that her piety was a major influence on his decision to become a Buddhist monk.

Hakuin Ekaku eventually came to the conclusion that it would be necessary to become a monk.

Hakuin Ekaku despaired over this story, as it showed that even a great monk could not be saved from a bloody death in this life.

Hakuin Ekaku saw a number of books piled out in the temple courtyard, books from every school of Buddhism.

Hakuin Ekaku then reached out and took a book; it was a collection of Zen stories from the Ming Dynasty.

Hakuin Ekaku again went traveling for two years, settling down at the Eigen-ji temple when he was twenty-three.

Hakuin Ekaku locked himself away in a shrine in the temple for seven days, and eventually reached an intense awakening upon hearing the ringing of the temple bell.

However, his master refused to acknowledge this enlightenment, and Hakuin Ekaku left the temple.

Hakuin Ekaku left again, to study for a mere eight months with Shoju Rojin.

Hakuin Ekaku left Shoju after eight months of study, without receiving formal dharma transmission from Shoju Rojin, nor from any other teacher, but Hakuin Ekaku considered himself to be an heir of Shoju Rojin.

Today Hakuin Ekaku is considered to have received dharma transmission from Shoju.

Hakuin Ekaku was unable to sustain the tranquility of mind of the Zen hall in the midst of daily life.

Hakuin Ekaku called it Zen sickness, and sought the advice of a Taoist cave dwelling hermit named Hakuyu, who prescribed a visualization and breathing practice which eventually relieved his symptoms.

From this point on, Hakuin Ekaku put a great deal of importance on physical strength and health in his Zen practice, and studying Hakuin Ekaku-style Zen required a great deal of stamina.

Hakuin Ekaku often spoke of strengthening the body by concentrating the spirit, and followed this advice himself.

The practices Hakuin Ekaku learned from Hakuyu are still passed down within the Rinzai school.

Hakuin Ekaku was installed as head priest, a capacity in which he would serve for the next half-century.

Hakuin Ekaku realized that the Bodhi-mind means working for the good of every sentient being:.

Hakuin Ekaku wrote of this experience, saying "suddenly I penetrated to the perfect, true, ultimate meaning of the Lotus".

Hakuin Ekaku dedicated the rest of his life to helping others achieve liberation.

Hakuin Ekaku would spend the next forty years teaching at Shoin-ji, writing, and giving lectures.

Hakuin Ekaku obtained milk from his neighbors and everything else the child needed by takuhatsu.

Hakuin Ekaku told her parents the truth - the real father of the child was a young man who worked in the fish market.

The mother and father of the girl at once went to Hakuin Ekaku to ask forgiveness, to apologize at length, and to get the child back.

At the age of 83, Hakuin Ekaku died in Hara, the same village in which he was born and which he had transformed into a center of Zen teaching.

Hakuin Ekaku saw "deep compassion and commitment to help all sentient beings everywhere" as an indispensable part of the Buddhist path to awakening.

Hakuin Ekaku emphasized the need for "post-satori training", purifying the mind of karmic tendencies and.

Hakuin Ekaku deeply believed that the most effective way for a student to achieve insight was through extensive meditation on a koan.

Hakuin Ekaku preferred this new koan to the most commonly assigned first koan from the Chinese tradition, the Mu koan.

Hakuin Ekaku believed his "Sound of One Hand" to be more effective in generating the great doubt, and remarked that "its superiority to the former methods is like the difference between cloud and mud".

Hakuin Ekaku related these four ways of knowing to four gates on the Buddhist path: the Gate of Inspiration, the Gate of Practice, the Gate of Awakening, and the Gate of Nirvana.

Hakuin Ekaku stressed a never-ending and severe training to deepen the insight of enlightenment and forge one's ability to manifest it in all activities.

Hakuin Ekaku urged his students to never be satisfied with shallow attainments, and truly believed that enlightenment was possible for anyone if they exerted themselves and approached their practice with real energy.

An extremely well known and popular Zen master during his later life, Hakuin Ekaku was a firm believer in bringing the wisdom of Zen to all people.

Hakuin Ekaku never sought to stop the rural population from observing non-Zen traditions, despite the seeming intolerance for other schools' practices in his writings.

Hakuin Ekaku wrote frequently in the last fifteen years of his life, trying to record his lessons and experiences for posterity.

Hakuin Ekaku seriously took up painting only late in his life, at almost age sixty, but is recognized as one of the greatest Japanese Zen painters.

Hakuin Ekaku's paintings were meant to capture Zen values, serving as sorts of "visual sermons" that were extremely popular among the laypeople of the time, many of whom were illiterate.

Today, paintings of Bodhi Dharma by Hakuin Ekaku are sought after and displayed in a handful of the world's leading museums.